Longmont council told to prepare for 'revolution'

Only twice in history has the world's economy undergone such a massive, fundamental shift as it's going through now.

That's the theory of Dave Maney, an economic commentator, author and frequent television guest and columnist, who was the first guest speaker at day one of the Longmont City Council's annual retreat Friday. He made the compelling argument that the global economy is in the early years of what he called an "information-soaked economic revolution."

It took 7,000 years, from 12,000 B.C. to 5,000 B.C., for mankind to transform from living in caves to developing a primarily agrarian economy, and then thousands of more years passed before the industrial revolution took hold in the mid-18th century. Those are the only times in human history that compare to the massive disruptions information technology is creating, Maney said.

"Why did those two revolutions happen? They happened because they represented a fundamentally more powerful economic engine," said Maney, who writes columns for Forbes and the Denver Post. He was scheduled to appear on Neil Cavuto's Fox News program Friday afternoon.

Maney, who also runs the website economaney.com, said four forces are driving the change today:

Proximity no longer matters.

Whether it's getting an education, shopping or obtaining professional services, you no longer need be in the same town, the same state, or even in the same country. It's called "search," Maney said, and "search" -- all by itself -- is changing everything.

"Frictionless collaboration."

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"It is easier and easier for us to work with anybody, anywhere, at any time," said Maney, adding that there are obvious exceptions, such as getting your toilet unclogged or going out for a pancake breakfast.

Big data.

Companies are gathering everything they can, all the time, and storing and cross-matching that data. That data is powerful.

Number four is the rise of tools, Maney said, and that ties into number three. Performing data analysis, publishing and other complex actions no longer requires any special training.

"The productivity of what the average guy on the street can do without any special training ... that rise has begun to sort of warp those laws of economic gravity," Maney said.

Regarding the council, Maney said that there are some leadership skills he would encourage elected officials to embrace, such as having deep intellectual curiosity and mental agility; not being afraid to not be the smartest person in the room; developing the ability to connect the dots; learning to build bridges; and being fearless in decision-making.

The city's fiber optic loop already puts it ahead of the curve in what will be the economy of the future, Maney said, because technology "is the new literacy."

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